London: The simmering row involving James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja has added some spice to the series as India and England gear up for the second cricket Test at Lord`s where a lively wicket is expected to welcome the two teams here on thursday.A date for hearing has not been finalised as yet which means Anderson is sure to play and the incident is bound to have a bearing when the two teams square up.
ICC has charged the home paceman Anderson for pushing and abusing Jadeja during the lunch break on the second day of first Test. If found guilty he could miss at least two and up to four Tests or upto 8 ODIs, something that the hosts will not desire under any circumstances.For India, meanwhile, perhaps this puts to rest the question of playing two spinners. At Trent Bridge, the 198-run world-record 10th wicket stand between Anderson and Joe Root notwithstanding, the Indian bowlers gave a fairly good account of themselves.
Indian skipper MS Dhoni likes to think of international cricket as a process and in that respect his inexperienced bowling attack did graduate from the way they bowled in the two practice games at Leicester and Derbyshire.Inadvertently it means a toss-up between R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The former had a lengthy bowling spell in the nets, while the latter batted, bowled and took slip-catching practice, going through a proper pre-match work-out.
This Indian team management doesn`t tinker around with its combination too much, certainly not when they have come away from the first Test with the series still poised nil-nil.There is every reason to expect that Ashwin will continue to sit out with Jadeja continuing in the role of the lone spinner. Whether their roles should be switched is a debate for another day, perhaps the end of this second Test match.
